The Yankees utility players, Ronald
Torreyes (0.3 WAR), Tyler Wade (-0.1 WAR) and Neil Walker (-0.1 WAR) had a
combined WAR of .1 in 2018, and while they are all serviceable as utility
players or as players off the bench, this is an area where the Yankees could use
an upgrade in 2019.

Series Preview: Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees (9/26-9/28)

The
Yankees come into their second to last series of the 2017 regular season down
four games in the American League East. While the odds are extremely slim that
they catch Boston for the division, the Yankees have still yet to secure home
field advantage for the Wild Card. The magic number to do so sits at two games,
which can be easily accomplished in this series against a Rays team that has
had an overall poor season.

Game One (Tuesday,
September 26 | First Pitch: 7:05 PM ET)

Blake
Snell (4-6, 4.01 ERA) vs. Jordan Montgomery (8-7, 4.06)

TV:
YES

The
opening game of the series will be a duel of two young southpaws who both have
had rollercoaster seasons. Blake Snell comes into this game riding a string of
solid performances to go along with his historic success against the Yankees.
While he has yet to live up to the hype that surrounded him as one of top Rays’
prospects, he has shown glimpses of being able to shutdown opposing lineups.
Blake Snell’s most glaring weakness is his control as he averages more than
four walks per game and until recently has had issues keeping his pitch count
at a reasonable number late into games.

Jordan
Montgomery is pitching in what will likely be his last start of the season
unless the Yankees decide to pitch him the season’s final game against Toronto
over Jaime Garcia. Montgomery essentially blew past any preseason expectations and
has been an integral member of the Yankees starting staff. He is currently one
of the fringe contenders to make the postseason roster, so this start will be
huge for him in that aspect. Montgomery had his best start since early August
last time out versus Baltimore as he tossed six scoreless innings. The Yankees
will be looking for more of the same in the southpaw’s start.

Game Two (Wednesday,
September 27 | First Pitch: 7:05 PM ET)

Matt
Andriese (5-4, 4.44 ERA) vs. Luis Severino (13-6, 3.03 ERA)

TV:
WPIX

Matt
Andriese will start the second game of the three-game set for the Rays. He
missed more than two months over the summer due to injury and has not been
effective since his return. He has failed to pitch past the fifth inning in all
but one of his five starts since his DL activation. The Yankees offense needs
to take advantage of his recent slide and get him down early in the game.

A
crazy amount of run support should not be needed, however, as Luis Severino
will oppose Andriese. Severino has been magnificent this season and this should
be his final start before the Wild Card game barring any miraculous turn of
events. Severino had one of his worst starts of the season his last time out
versus the Twins, but was bailed out by the offense. Severino will look to get
back on track against the Rays and set himself up to pitch the biggest game of
his life.

Photo Credit: USA Today

Game Three (Thursday,
September 28 | First Pitch: 7:05 PM ET)

Jacob
Faria (5-4, 3.33 ERA) vs. Sonny Gray (10-11, 3.31 ERA)

TV:
YES

Alex
Cobb was originally scheduled to pitch on Thursday, but due to 2017 being his
first back from Tommy John, the Rays are opting to skip it in favor of the
rookie Jacob Faria. Faria was a pleasant surprise in the beginning of the
season, but was demoted from the rotation after he had some troubles over the
summer. He has posted an ERA of 4.37 since the beginning of the second half compared
to his 2.11 ERA prior to the break. Faria failed to find the strike zone his
last time out versus the Bombers, so the Yankees need to continue their patient
approach against him.

Sonny
Gray will make his final start of the regular season in this finale. Gray has
been solid for the Yankees, but has yet to truly show his ability to dominate
opposing lineups on a start to start basis. Gray figures to be a huge factor in
the Yankees playoff rotation and this start could be a giant confidence boost
for not only him, but the team. Gray had his best start of the season for the
Yankees his last time out versus the Rays at Citi Field.

Players
to Watch:

Yankees

Aaron
Judge

After
crushing home run number 50 on Monday, all eyes will be set on Judge possibly
increasing his own record over the rest of the season. He is fresh off winning
AL Player of the Week and will be looking to continue raking for the rest of
the season and into the playoffs.

Aaron
Hicks

Aaron
Hicks was activated from the disabled list prior to Tuesday night’s game and
was immediately inserted into the leadoff role for the game. Hicks was arguably
one of the team’s most dangerous hitters in the spring months, but performed atrociously
following his activation from the DL. Some may argue he was not fully healed in
August, but after another almost whole month of absence Hicks should be ready
to go and be ready to prove that his early success was not a fluke.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Rays

Evan
Longoria

The
notorious Yankee-killer of the Rays, Longoria has arguably endured one of his
worst offensive seasons in his career in 2017. His 19 home runs are his lowest
total since 2012, when he only played 74 games. Nevertheless, Longoria is as dangerous
as anyone when he faces the Yankees, and he has the upmost potential to hurt
the Yankees in this series.

Logan
Morrison

Logan
Morrison has enjoyed a breakout season in the power department with 37 home
runs, but is known by most Yankee fans as the whining Home Run Derby snub who
believed Gary Sanchez was not worthy of a derby invitation. Morrison does have
the potential to hit home runs in bunches, and it would be a solid idea for the
Yankees to try to silence him once and for all in this series.

Photo Credit: Drays Bay

The
Rays are 4-6 in their last ten games and appeared over matched in the series in
Queens earlier this month, however, they have the history of heavily enjoying
the role of being spoilers. The Yankees need to keep up their momentum from
their win versus Kansas City on Monday and continue to fight for the Wild Card
home field advantage and possibly a division title.

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The scene was set for the
young budding Bomber squad last fall after finishing their season a game away
from a World Series berth. They were the team that arrived a year too early,
and another deep playoff run would be the goal, but then an old friend threw a
wrench in those plans. Derek Jeter put gargantuan slugger Giancarlo Stanton on
the market, and Stanton dictated his transfer with a full no-trade clause. The
Giants and Cardinals among others threw their name into the ring, but who did
he choose? The Yankees and Dodgers, it seemed to be a battle of baseballs
powerhouses, but the Yankees had an advantage over their former neighbors,
payroll flexibility. They were able to use this into an absolute steal of the
reigning NL MVP, and the Yankees were thrust into a world series or bust year.
The season was historic, they set the season home run record without Gary
Sanchez, Didi Gregorius, Greg Bird, and Aaron Judge for most if not all of the
year, but it ended in a bust at the hands of…

The
speculation started during the regular season, even prior to his trade from the
Baltimore Orioles to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Where would Manny Machado go upon
his free agency at the end of the 2018 regular season? And, with that, which
teams would be knocking on his door? No
sooner did the Yankees’ regular season come to a close after their fated ending
in the American League Division Series, the talks of Machado coming to the
Bronx took off as though pushed by a speeding 4 Train behind Yankee Stadium. The
truth of the matter is that the rumors started even prior to Machado’s free
agency being on the horizon -- they started
at the trade deadline.

Yankee fans are left with more questions than answers following Clint Frazier’s injury riddled 2018. Frazier suffered through concussion symptoms throughout his 2018 campaign, which saw him appear in 69 games between the minors and the big leagues. Now, Yankees fans wonder what 2019 will hold for the 24 year-old.

Miguel Andujar’s 2018
arrival in the big leagues on April 1st had been much anticipated by Yankee
fans and we were rewarded with a Rookie of the Year performance by one of the
most exciting players in all of Major League Baseball.

Corey Kluber is the difference
maker and impact arm the Yankees need atop their rotation. In 2017 and
2018, Yankee fans wished ace-like status on Luis Severino, but his
inconsistencies have left him just short of owning the name. Kluber, 32,
has been the definition of consistent for the Cleveland Indians, winning 18+
games four out of the last five years and winning 20 games in 2018 for the
first time in his career. Kluber has posted an ERA below 3.50 every season
since 2014, and has struck out at least 220 hitters in the same span. Kluber
keeps getting better, and is not showing any signs of regression. Kluber is an
ace, the ace the Yankees need.

There’s
no easy way to answer this question. Or, rather, there’s no one answer. The
surrounding factors change, creating different situations and, as such,
different fits -- both from a financial and from a team standpoint. A case can
be made to bring back either of these free agents, or both of them, or…
neither. But it’s almost impossible to make a blanket answer that fits in every
possible scenario.

It
felt like a shoe-in. So much so, in fact, that I advocated
for what I thought was the inevitable all the way back in September, before the
BBWAA even announced the nominees for American League Rookie of the Year.

First acquired in a relatively
small-time, 40-man sell-off move around this time last year that sent 1B
Garrett Cooper and LHP Caleb Smith to Miami, Michael King was seen as a young
right hander with promise, but one still years away from making any significant
Major League impact.At the time, the
important part of that trade was the $250,000 international bonus pool money
Miami included, which we all thought was to be used on Shohei Ohtani.Ohtani, obviously, never ended up in the Bronx
and will not pitch at all in 2019 after undergoing offseason Tommy John
Surgery.

Flashback to July 3rd -
the Mariners had just won their eighth consecutive game, putting them 20 games
above .500 and in possession of the third-best record in baseball. Everything
was going right in Seattle, and it surely seemed as if the M’s infamous 17-year
playoff drought would finally come to an end. Just two and a half months later
on September 22nd, the Mariners were eliminated from playoff contention,
following a dreadful summer slump and the concurrent surge of the
division-rival Athletics.

I
cannot count the number of times I tweeted about the Yankees and their problem
with RISP and situational offense over the course of the 2018 season. Of
course, the Yankees won 100 games on the regular season, and that statistic is
nothing to sniff at. They also claimed the single-season home run record. And
that’s great.